I found that players were OK with it if the result was random rather than the thought of me picking on them with a complication.

I like to involve the entire group in determining what the complication is rather than rolling, but it seems to work well. Typically, I let things go with a fairly minor complication unless the action was a bit outrageous anyway.

A minor complication can lead to a big problem, though. Take Han's twig snap. That's a minor complication. A twig breaks when he steps on it, alerting the Scout Trooper.

But...alerting the Scout trooper means alerting them all--and two get away on their speederbikes, speeding ahead to warn THE ENTIRE LEGION OF THE EMPEROR'S BEST TROOPS GUARDING THE SHIELD GENERATOR.

I found that players were OK with it if the result was random rather than the thought of me picking on them with a complication.

I like to involve the entire group in determining what the complication is rather than rolling, but it seems to work well. Typically, I let things go with a fairly minor complication unless the action was a bit outrageous anyway.

A minor complication can lead to a big problem, though. Take Han's twig snap. That's a minor complication. A twig breaks when he steps on it, alerting the Scout Trooper.

But...alerting the Scout trooper means alerting them all--and two get away on their speederbikes, speeding ahead to warn THE ENTIRE LEGION OF THE EMPEROR'S BEST TROOPS GUARDING THE SHIELD GENERATOR.

But they weren't any good really.......ok forgot about our heroes plot armor

My rule of thumb is to always subtract the highest die, then consider the results:

If "minus highest" is still a success, then they get a "Yes, but"... a success but a complication. Luke figuring out how to lock the door, but missing that it will also prevent them from extending the bridge.

If minus highest is a failure, but would've succeeded with that die? Simple failure.

If the full value wouldn't have succeeded anyway, then you get a failure plus a complication... Han trying to hotwire the door on Endor's moon, but accidentally closing the door that's already opened._________________"I’m telling you, you’ll never have a deeper sleep than curled up in a Wookie’s lap."
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/

My rule of thumb is to always subtract the highest die, then consider the results:

If "minus highest" is still a success, then they get a "Yes, but"... a success but a complication. Luke figuring out how to lock the door, but missing that it will also prevent them from extending the bridge.

If minus highest is a failure, but would've succeeded with that die? Simple failure.

If the full value wouldn't have succeeded anyway, then you get a failure plus a complication... Han trying to hotwire the door on Endor's moon, but accidentally closing the door that's already opened.

I do like this version.

My post above is in use with a game populated by middle aged RPG veterans who are fully willing to screw themselves over for the sake of the story (and who incidentally trust that I will figure a way to let the story continue despite the gaff). Your mileage may vary._________________"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest."
G'Kar, Survivors (Babylon 5)

My post above is in use with a game populated by middle aged RPG veterans who are fully willing to screw themselves over for the sake of the story (and who incidentally trust that I will figure a way to let the story continue despite the gaff). Your mileage may vary.

My post above is in use with a game populated by middle aged RPG veterans who are fully willing to screw themselves over for the sake of the story (and who incidentally trust that I will figure a way to let the story continue despite the gaff). Your mileage may vary.

You play with true roleplayers. You are in an enviable position.

Absolutely! It's possible to get closer to this with a more average group though.. adjusting incentives and building trust a bit at a time. Taking time as a DM to ask players to help craft the story when possible and allowing them to world build some (with oversight of course) helps. It kind of feels like a crunchier version of the newer "indie games" kind of thing, though I have done this on and off for decades. I'll admit it's rough with a certain type of player though.. anyone coming directly from AD&D will get a nose bleed trying to figure it out. _________________"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest."
G'Kar, Survivors (Babylon 5)

My post above is in use with a game populated by middle aged RPG veterans who are fully willing to screw themselves over for the sake of the story (and who incidentally trust that I will figure a way to let the story continue despite the gaff). Your mileage may vary.

You play with true roleplayers. You are in an enviable position.

You lucky bugger.. I'd love to play with gamers like that!_________________It's Not who you kill, but how they die!
You cannot dodge it if you do not know it is coming, and you cannot hit it if you do not know its there.

I'm in the camp of "Take away the highest die as well as the Wild Die" if a 1 is rolled.

On occasion, but not always, if they succeed anyway, I let the success stand. If they fail the roll, I let them fail. And if the roll was significantly affected and was a failure, I may through a complication into the mix. I never do anything bad to them, but I may make things a bit more complicated due to the terrible failure.

At the same time, I always give my players the option of using Character Points to augment their roll before they announce the total to me. So if they rolled a 1 on the Wild on a 3D roll, and ended up with a total of 2 or so, they can opt to spend a CP or two and roll those, adding to the total, before they announce their final roll. But if they say "Oh man, I got a 2" or some such, I take that as their final total. So my players learned not to blurt out their total right away until they assessed whether they should roll extra dice with CPs or just to announce the total and take the consequences.

I like giving my bad guys reinforcements on a wild die complication. It makes the situation more tense without having everything boil down to slap-stick comedy. Slips, trips, and falls get old for players. I also enjoy doing success with complications. Like a character jumping between buildings who ends up hitting a weak spot and the floor gives out from under him and he ends up in someone's living room. The chase is still on, but now we've added some destruction of property if he gets caught!_________________RR
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I just realized I may need to qualify my statements above. I run a modified first edition game. We only use the wild die in situations where there are a lot of unusual distractions or general chaos. Basically every roll in a battlefield situation, but not in an alleyway firefight. On the other hand, someone trying to slice a door lock in said alley would probably roll wild while those in the gun fight wouldn't.

I also have a rule that any time a character simply couldn't meet the target number by virtue of not having a high enough die pool they may "go for broke," and roll with a wild die where a 1 is always a complication._________________"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest."
G'Kar, Survivors (Babylon 5)

I could see using 1 on the wild die to model a house rule that was in a D20 Star Wars I played in for d6 Star Wars. The original rule was that if someone had rolled a '1' on an attack roll with a blaster, the power pack would be drained. That way we didn't have to track ammo, and it became a very minor complication to have to change packs in the blaster.

I could see using 1 on the wild die to model a house rule that was in a D20 Star Wars I played in for d6 Star Wars. The original rule was that if someone had rolled a '1' on an attack roll with a blaster, the power pack would be drained. That way we didn't have to track ammo, and it became a very minor complication to have to change packs in the blaster.

That could go either way. If you need to make a clutch shot and your blaster's empty, someone's about to have a really bad day. Othewise, it could be just a minor inconvenience.

We use the Wild Die and sometimes nothing happens immediately, if at all, but I always note 1's & 6's for each player as several minor complications have led to 'interesting times'. Mostly I just go with the story at the moment and try not to overly penalize the players if the Force isn't strong with them at that moment. _________________Aha!

I had a long time player in one of my games who had exceedingly horrible dice rolls. Eventually, to level the playing field with her fellow players, she got an additional character point for every 1 on the wild die she suffered, since she often had to burn through her CPs to do even moderate tasks._________________RR
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My default is the 'take the 1 and highest' unless I or the player have a good complication idea...

Yes, the player!

My player's LOVE ruining their own day and always come up with something a lot more fun than I could.
Putting ownership of the problem in the players hands takes the sting out of it.

Importantly, a 'complication' doesn't have to be immediate or even penalise the player directly, it could add a further 'complication' to the scenario or environment... Or it's something that comes up later..._________________Check out my campaign and others on Obsidian Portal!